Doyle/Democrat photo
Oyster River’s Hayley Bisson, left, is all smiles as she celebrates a goal with teammate Kaeili McPhee during the second period against STA/Dover Tuesday night at the Whittemore Center.

DURHAM — Even though the Oyster River High School girls hockey program has only been around for six seasons, it’s still saying something that coach Jamie Long thinks junior forward Hannah Herz-Kahn can be one of the best ever to don a Bobcat uniform.

Herz-Kahn recorded her first career hat trick on Tuesday night in a 6-2 win over rival St. Thomas Aquinas/Dover at the Whittemore Center. Herz-Kahn’s second and third goals, which came within two minutes of each other in the third period, turned a one-goal game into a rout.

“Hannah has the ability to be as good as anybody who played here,” Long said. “She skates well and she has good balance. That said, it’s early in the year, and she’s got to learn to use her teammates. She tries to do a lot by herself. But that will come.”

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Doyle/Democrat photo
Oyster River's Hannah Herz-Kahn advances toward the net during the first period against STA/Dover Tuesday night at the Whittemore Center.

Even though it was her first hat trick, Herz-Kahn said she wasn’t disappointed that no one threw their hat on the ice to celebrate after she made it 5-2 with a backhander into the top shelf of the net at 10:12 of the final frame.

“I don’t look for the goals or points, necessarily,” Herz-Kahn said with a laugh. “I had a lot of shots that weren’t getting in, which was frustrating me. But we picked it up in the third period, which is great.”

The Bobcats evened their record at 1-1, rebounding nicely from a 4-1 season-opening loss to defending champion Hanover. St. Thomas/Dover fell to 1-2. The two clubs are scheduled for a rematch on Jan. 19 in Dover.

“They always play us tough,” Long said about STA/Dover. “It goes right down to the wire most every time.”

Not on Tuesday. Less than two minutes after STA/Dover’s Shayna Murphy scored to make it 3-2, Herz-Kahn scored on a breakaway to restore the Bobcats’ two-goal cushion at 8:28. Herz-Kahn then sent a backhand from the left of STA/Dover goalie Megan MacBride into the far side of the net to expand Oyster River’s lead to 5-2 at 10:12.

“A couple mental breakdowns in the defensive zone,” STA/Dover first-year coach Kevin Banfield said. “We talked about that before the game and between periods, to take care of our own end. Just some mental lapses.”

Julia Hatch’s goal made it 6-2 at 9:22 of the third.

Oyster River took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Lynn Burke and Herz-Kahn. STA/Dover’s Avery Gowan got her team on the board at 6:08 of the middle frame to cut Dover’s lead to 2-1. Bobcat sophomore defenseman Hayley Bisson shot from the face-off circle for a goal at 9:22, and Oyster River took a 3-1 lead into the second stop.

Murphy said it was a challenge to play on the Whittemore Center’s oversized rink, which is the home of the University of New Hampshire men’s and women’s programs.

“The size is so much bigger than every other rink we play on,” Murphy said. “The passing needs to be more (accurate) and the skating and the back-checking is a lot longer. The trips from zone to zone is a lot longer.”